2014 Commonwealth Games

The Assignment

Set in the East End of Glasgow the Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village was to be a ‘home from home’ offering an exclusive retail area, a recreation area, medical facility and other amenities for the athletes and officials based there, including fantastic dining halls.

The Games’ organising committee required a main dining hall where all 4,500 athletes could eat throughout the day or night for the duration of the 11-day event, as well as casual dining area. The facilities were situated within the Athletes’ Village which formed part of the Games infrastructure and regeneration of this part of Glasgow.

The Solution

Neptunus supplied two Evolution II structures from its semi-permanent range which, with their solid insulated roof and walls, offered a substantial structure suited to housing a full working kitchen and the necessary heating, ventilation, air conditioning and extraction systems.

The Main Dining structure, measuring 50m x 125m, was located on a hard-standing site which was especially prepared inside the Athlete’s Village. A levelled under-structure with steps and ramps provided a level floor, while internal partition walls created the kitchen areas and offices.

A reinforced floor was necessary to support heavy kitchen equipment and roller shutter doors gave easy access to the Games’ caterers. High level double-glazed panels let in lots of natural light to make for excellent working conditions and an enjoyable dining experience for athletes and Games’ volunteers alike. Neptunus also arranged for carpet tiles and heavy duty vinyl floor coverings to be fitted.

A separate Casual Dining facility was created from a 15m x 35m Evolution II featuring a cantilevered roof which housed a barbecue area for the athletes.

The Challenges

Extensive security procedures were in place demanding that all members of the crew were accredited to gain access to the site.

All deliveries to the site also had to be booked into the organising committee’s system to gain access. Neptunus’ meticulous planning meant that all 49 of its own trucks and 41 sub-contractor loads were successfully delivered to the installation team without delays.

During the build process the crew discovered underground services which were not shown on survey drawings. Unable to use the standard fixing method of driving stakes into the ground, Neptunus instead shipped in concrete ballast to support the structures where needed.

The Verdict

Despite the challenges Neptunus was able to deliver both dining facilities in just ten weeks.

The result was two first-class dining areas where thousands of athletes and Games’ officials enjoyed fare ranging from the informal Highland Barbecue to pizza and pasta and the deli throughout the 11-day event.

Ian Reid, Chief Financial Officer for the Games, said: “Neptunus Limited was instrumental to the success of the Games. We simply could not have delivered such a result without the knowledge, skills and expertise of our terrific team of suppliers from around Scotland, the UK and Worldwide.”

The structures were swiftly stripped and dismantled with the site cleared a month after they were handed back to Neptunus ready for re-hire elsewhere.